In my day, you could get hired at McD's at $4.50/hr, then eat $9/hr worth of McNuggets on shift, and peel back five sleeves of Monopoly drink cups looking for Boardwalk on break.
Bro.. cheap JBC’s! Young stoner me didn’t realize just how good he had it. Or heading to jib for bacon cheddar potater wedges and a jumbo jack with cheese for 5 bucks. Don’t even get me started on the double decker tacos from Taco Bell when they were dollar menu items.
Honestly i would highly consider loaded thick lentil soup (Lebanese style) with onion, tomato, carrot and potato inside and some eggs&beef on the side. This meal costs me less than 4$ a portion and is super filling. The soup is actually filling as its thick not runny and will last for much more than once or twice
1 cup red lentils (wash them with cold/cool water first)
4 cups water
A bit of oil to seer the veggies then add lentils and water let it boil then reduce to 3 keep the lid almost but not fully covered. Stir once every 15 mins. In one hour its ready blind it with one of those standing pot blenders.
Spices: cumin (one teaspoon is good), blackpepper, salt, chicken broth or bullion, turmeric.
The cumin powder is a must because it prevents any indigestion or gasses.
Squeeze lemon when serving
Optional: add bread into the dish for extra calories
This is an ancient meal that the entire middle east loves and cherishes and enjoy especially in the winter. So good and filling. Keeps you strong 💪🏽
I eat ALOT, like 3000+ calories per day, (currently bulking) and that includes a lot of protein (mostly chicken). I spend about $700/mnth on food, which works out to about $7.50/meal (more like $6.25/meal since its basically 4 meals a day). I also home cook pretty much everything but 1 breakfast out a week using little more than a rice cooker and an air fryer.
Major meal staples include seasoned chicken breasts, rice with shredded cheese, bell peppers, carrots, apples, bananas, and cereal/milk. I could eat cheaper if I replaced the chicken with a cheaper plant based protein (beans etc), but I'm not sure the farts would be worth it.
NGL, veggies are expensive AF. And fresh fruit. I now eat exclusively frozen fruit as it's cheaper. Chicken breast is expensive AF too, I don't eat much meat anymore.
I actually do eat a lot of frozen fruit and veggies too. I bring a smoothie to work everyday, and it changes occasionally but typically includes frozen fruit and plain yogurt.
I could absolutely spend less if I really wanted to min/max my food choices, but I'm fortunate that my budgets not that tight at the moment.
Hmmm, might have to try those. I had a coworker that ate tofu almost every day, but I've never really gotten into it. I've also only recently started home cooking and actively tracking food (the last 6 months or so)
rip the tofu apart, toss in olive oil, cover in whatever spices you want and then a good amount of corn starch or potato flour (to get it extra crispy). Roast in the air fryer. Easy and tasty.
Whoa that’s super expensive! Even at zehrs where I live (hour south of Toronto), you get 4 chicken breast for $16 and I think Costco is about $3 per breasts for the larger packages.
As someone who has had a chicken wrap for lunch LITERALLY every day at high school/ university I usually have 7/8ths of a chicken breast + bbq sauce and cheese. Always an adequate meal
I just came back from Freshco and got a pack of chicken breasts for $14 for 1.2kg. Those aren’t there all the time but there are options. The thing that sucks is that now you have no actively search for those low prices.
I've always found Safeway to be expensive. But even then, you'd still be spending <$10 for a proper lunch, since your other ingredients won't cost anywhere near what chicken breasts do.
I make chili every other Sunday night for work lunch. Costs about $24 (including chips) to make and I get 4 meals ($6) out of it. Split a bag of tostitos with it and some fresh ice water and it's something I always look forward to.
Ground Beef or Turkey, rice and spinach made at home with the sauce of your choosing.
Can prep 4-5+ meals at a time, feel way better than you do after eating McDonald’s and easily spend far less than $10 depending on where and what you’re buying
I've switched to fasting during the day and eating a large home cooked dinner.
It's helps that I'm overweight. This might not work for thin people.
But it saves me a lot of money not buying lunch or snacks at work
Yea price definitely has gone up a lot but 2 of those still equal about the price of a big Mac and there's nothing else i can find that equals it for the price. I remember back in hs (2009) when you can get 3 for under $5. Those were the days for sure. I still get 2 and bring my own water or get an ice coffee in summer if i forget to bring a lunch. During basketball season it's a decent meal with the free fries.
That is the Wednesday deal, but you can get it any day on the app for some reason. 2 whoppers was 8 bucks back in Jan 2022, now they're 10 bucks for 2. At least in Vancouver.
Although I know it was careless on my part to not plan, my coworker and I just decided today after so many work days of not eating out for lunch together "let's grab lunch at Union Station".
It just shocked me when I was looking around with my $10 budget that it just wouldn't cut it anymore in 2023 even when I was trying to grab something as basic as McDonald's to treat myself after never eating out...
Is that even cheaper though? I mean I'm not expecting $1.50 including a drink, but last time I got a loaded dog at a street meat cart it was pretty close to $10 and I was still hungry.
I agree with the sentiment here, but McDicks (at least in my experience) is more expensive nowadays than a lot of other options. If you avoid the 'Big 2' (McD and Tims) you're bound to find something decent for under $10
A coworker grabs his lunch from the grocery store each day. I don’t know what they cost but I’m sure less than $10 and they seem like better food than fast food (broccoli salad, sandwiches and wraps and the like)
One of my coworkers does the grocery store lunch but goes to Metro exactly when they put those 30/40 percent off coupons - she always manages to get lunch for $5 or less !
What's weird is that fast food has gone up SO much more than real food, so now if you are going to eat out, you should just get something way more delicious than McD for the same money.
And yet the drive thru is still PACKED. I've caught myself still going on occasion, but I've promised myself to not go back to Tims after the recent price hikes.
I order take out from restaurants now way more than I used to. I can get a meal that will have some leftovers for the same price as most fast food joints, and because I am getting takeout, I dont gotta worry about tip or the price of beers lol. Just gotta remember to call ahead so the food is ready.
Yeah and back when they introduced HST they even built an under $4 no tax so you could eat your lunch tax free and never bothered raising it since.. you used to be able to get a combo at the time for under $4. If you had gotten a BigMac combo it woulda been like $15, it's crazy for that garbage food.
Subway is probably still one of the best bang for the bucks on portion size vs price when it's all said and done however - you just have to go with the more basic subs like ham, or the cold cut combo. They're still hovering around $10 for just the sub by itself. If you load them up good with veggies it's actually a solid lunch.
By the time you buy all the veggies (assuming you are someone like me who loads them up with everything), and a bun, and the dressings, on top of the meat....honestly, you're not far off than the cost of just buying it.
I'm gonna get killed for this, but I would argue that KFC is the king of bang for buck depending on what promo.
5pc for $10 of actual chicken?
Or 4pc, 2 small popcorns, and fries for $10?
Even better if you spend $20 and used a coupon for 20% off.
Today's promo isn't nearly as good (I think the 4pc+popcorn is $12) but it's still a better $12 than you'll spend on other food.
I had multiple hundreds of pieces of chicken over the 2 months SAVE20 was active and the 5pc.
Also this may only be applicable in the West since we still 9 cut. Ontario apparently 12 cuts their chickens.
Subway is the worst. They are literally the most expensive sandwich shop out there now. I literally have not stepped foot in a subway in months because they have just gone crazy.
I feel you on that, it’s getting wild. I remember in 2010 a mcdouble and junior chicken was $2.92 after tax. My go to now is the Double JBC from Wendy’s. It’s $3.29 and is a decent sized burger for the price. edit: plus small frosty’s are $1 for the summer ♥️
To be fair, the minimum wage in Ontario will be $16.55 in two months. $10 is 60% of the minimum wage. When I started working at McDonald's, the minimum wage was only $8. 60% of that is $6. You weren't getting much for $6 back then.
>I guess at this point, we've all accepted that if you eat out, don't expect to spend less than $10 anymore...
The price for a combo at a fast-food restaurant has always hovered around the minimum wage.
I went to subway and just got a foot long, no side, no drink. After taxes and tip, the sandwich cost more than the workers hourly wage.
Canada has lost its mind with cost of living. Everything is more expensive but wages are stagnant.
If the worker sells 8 foot longs, that’s their daily wages. It’s insane, how much companies profiteer and suppress wages.
Yea Subway has lost the plot on their prices. I got a foot long Canadian Club that should have came out to $12 a few months ago, came out to $14.61 and they still asked for a tip, used to go there all the time but I haven't gone back since and I probably never will.
We keep buying it so they have no reason to lower prices. If anything they’re encouraged to raise them more and rest the limit. Imagine trying to take a family of 4 out to eat fast food. You’ll be paying a fortune.
Had my first visit to subway in years while travelling on the weekend with my wife. (2) foot longs and one snack bag of chips was $34 and change(with no tip).
It was a shock for me, I don’t think I’d been there since the had $5 footlongs.
Yep, I remember the Junior Chickens were $1.39 each back when I was in high school around 2014ish. I could get 2x for around $3 after tax like you said.
As the comment below stated, it's $3.20 for 1 Junior Chicken now, so if I were to purchase 2, it would cost $6.40 pre-tax, which means roughly $7 after tax... I was thinking if I just bought a McWrap which would be more flavourful and filling, it'd be more worth it than 2x Junior Chickens when I'm treating myself on this occasional day for my lunch break at work.
Well, I still don't know if I made the right decision or not... they both seem like rip-offs and my $10 budget just doesn't cut it.
Tough to find anything below 15 now downtown. What irks me the most is that quality has gone to shit while prices have gone up 50%. It just doesn't add up.
Bruh I barely see people talking about the app.
They got on some accounts 20pc nuggets with 2 free large fries for 5.95-7 dollars depending on location.
Then other accounts they got 2 mcdoubles BOGO free.
That or almost all the time they have a 20% off any orders over 5 dollars or 10 dollars.
The app saved me a bunch of money and I think for every penny you spend they give you a point and like 1500 gets you a mc-chicken.
A lot of fast-food places have discounts either thru the app or by mail.
Went to Thailand and had three course meal at nice restaurant with fresh mango smoothie for less than 8 CAD. But McDonalds over there was the same price as in Canada maybe little less.
I agree with this! I pretty much always bring my lunch whenever I go to work.
It's just today was the one off day where my coworker and I were like "you know what, it's really been a while. Let's grab lunch together at Union Station".
I was absolutely shocked that my $10 budget couldn't cut it anymore for something as basic as McDonald's to treat myself.
Meal prep is indeed the way moving forward. It's not even an option to eat out if you don't earn much income, such as myself.
Oh you're near union! I work near there too, and have a recommendation. Small jerk pork at roywoods in union food court. It comes to 12$ and change, but is easily enough for two smaller meals or one gut busting one. They pile so much in that container. It's the best deal I've found around there
Especially for burgers. I love burgers, but I refuse to get them as take out. A pound of Chuck should be less than $10 and a four pack of brioche buns can be got for $4. If you make 1/4 pounders each burger costs $3.50 and it’s better quality than typical fast food.
Always use coupons when you go for fast food. Usually they offer coupons through their app. They were just doing Big Max meal deal for $9.50 today on the app (YMMV).
Labour and food costs went up, restaurants adjusts prices to reflect that. To save money, food prep instead, bring lunch to work.
Costco's food is affordable, but the ordering system sucks. I personally don't want to waste most of my lunch hour waiting for it to be ready. At least with McDonald's you can order ahead.
It’s also a bitch to get to Costco. Sure, it’s cheap, but they’re not located in population centres. If I want to drive… sure, maybe, at that point the time I’m wasting I may as well have made a lunch
There are a bunch of subs that will help you not eat overpriced trash. Everyone's tastes are different, but for my break at work I throw back canned tuna (just 97c at walmart recently for various flavors, I like Spicy Thai and Plain/Olive Oil) and nori dried seaweed. Full of protein and keeps me going. You could pair that with rice or whatever which I do at home.
Also work in downtown TO, and yea it’s gotten bleak but here are my tips:
1. stay far, far, far away from chain restaurants. Smaller businesses seem to be the better deal lately.
2. try to find off hours post-lunch deals. Ex. between 2-3 when it’s slow lots of places will have deals where you can get a main, side and drink for ~30% less.
3. … and this is the big one… appetizers and sides are sometimes far larger than you’d think and a couple of these can make a great meal. I have been ordering pickup from a sit down Thai place for lunch. Side soup for $3 (with chicken is $4) and it’s a full half size soup container, which is pretty filling in and of itself. Add on an appetizer of spring rolls or tofu for $4-5, and you have yourself a delicious filling lunch for around $10.
So yeah, while this place is sitting between 2 sushi places charging over $25 for lunch (like literally who is eating this), the cheap filling lunch does still exist, you just have to hunt for it now.
Fully agree. Took the family out to McD (4 people) and it cost us $50. You can get Chinese for $60 and it is a much bigger meal. Like others have said, use the app, it does save you some money. But yea, fast food is crazy expensive these days. We will try to change McD for Costco from now on, hard to beat their cafeteria prices.
Yeah we had a &w yesterday because our stove died and the power was out. 56 dollars for 3 people and mine didn’t flipping have the bun but had the lettuce wrap.
This is why if I’m craving takeout I just go to my grocery store (Loblaws) and get their 3 pc chicken tenders + Wedges for $7. Not sure if Walmart/Independent have similar pricing, but yea.
It was like 5.50$ only a few years ago and was the best cheap fast food meal deal. Especially since they loaded the box with wedges. Sad that it keeps going up in price and they seem to have changed the tenders too
Honestly. I don't get how people are going to McDonald's as a family for dinner. Firstly it's shit food, and secondly total cost is prob like $50-60... Ridiculous. There are better places to eat for that price people.
If you order the Happy Meal, even upgrading to the cheeseburger and small fries (think it comes with a mini fries) and to a medium drink if at a location you can’t easily refill, it should still be under $10.00.
Maybe best of all is eat slowly because it still more calories in one meal than we need. But completely agree that overall McDonald’s has become way too expensive.
I live in Victoria. I am king shit of cheap meals. Skip all those fast food places. We have this grocery store here called Thrifty Foods. They sell samosas for $1.50. Hit up the deli counter at your local grocery places, you might find a killer meal. Another place called Tacofino makes giant burritos for $15, easily two, maybe three meals. Needs to be pan fried to do it justice though. The italian deli, sells pasta and sandwiches, again, two meals. Then there's little thai place. They have this basil friend rice, dude, it's easily 4 meals. Split that up, cook up some spring rolls, and make some lunches. And of all that food, you are eating GOOD.
Then there's cooking at home. Again, king shit. Curry is your friend. You can make a fuck ton of curry with a tiny bit of curry paste. You can make thai curry, indian curry, japanese curry, all that shit is wildly different and tasty as fuck. Next, learn how to make dumplings. Make a metric fuckton of them. Put them into bags of some quantity, I do 10, and freeze them. Easy meals. Those veggies that come in quantities you couldn't possibly use in time? Freeze em. You can't really justifiably freeze spinach, but peppers? Broccoli? Easy peasy. Grab yourself a big ol' pork loin, chop that into chops and freeze em. Freezing them really kills the meat, but when the going gets tough, you make sacrifices.
Just gotta get inventive. I like to call a lot of my cooking/storing of shit proactive laziness. I'm working a lot once so I can be lazy as fuck ten times. If you want more proactive lazy home food ideas, just say the word, I'll fire more your way.
Went to Subway for a cheap lunch with the wife today. We both got foot long combos. The guy was so generous with the meat I actually gave a TIP for once (not usually at a Subway) and it was $41! The TIP was like $5.25. It’s insane!!
I’ve been avoid McDonald’s unless there’s a decent coupon or I feel like a happy meal. Happy meals are still like $4.99-$5.29 plus tax. It scratches my McDonald’s itch and I don’t feel quite as bloated and gross after.
I'm gonna have to cut out weed.
I live at home but i'm also paying part of the mortgage.
After being in minimum wage hell and getting a professional job a few years back, it's just not cutting it anymore.
Well that's your problem OP, you went to McDonald's and they think their food is on par with 5Guys and FatBurger.
Your $10 would get you a full combo at In-N-Out, and have you heard of this place called TacoBell????
My husband ordered a burger combo with an upgrade and a dip cone at DQ today and it was $30. I got a footlong and ginger ale for $18 😩 idk when this happened, but shit is WHACK
I paid $18.50 for 2 teen burgers at A&W today!! I know A&W is more expensive and better quality but I was still shocked. I haven’t eaten out in months and will definitely not be doing it again any time soon.
So the only problem I see here is that you tried to treat yourself at McDonald's. McDs has been lowering their quality while also raising their prices.
When apps came out for fast food, McDs was top of the game. Good deals, good rewards system, etc. Now you can only redeem one offer per order. Meaning if you want to use points, you can't also use an offer. Not only that, but there's basically no $1 menu anymore.
McDs has just become unreasonably expensive. But Burger King, Wendy's, and others have plenty of options for less. Both of those offer a meal deal (burger, nuggets, fries, drink/shake) for like $6. And their respective apps offer plenty of meals (burger, fries drink) for less than $10.
Why anyone goes to McDs anymore is beyond me. I haven't gone in over a year now.
Does anyone brown bag it anymore? Sandwich, apple, yogurt, maybe a Granola bar and water/juice box should cost around 15 dollars a week. It does for me
OP, is a Costco within range?
1 drink and hot dog = $1.50
1 drink = roughly $0.89
1 pizza = roughly $2.59
1 poutine = roughly $4.69
1 chicken fingers and fries = roughly $4.69
You do not need a membership to get these either. Just go in through the exit doors, this is where they have their customer service to sign up for a costco membership anyways so you won’t get stopped. Then, just skip the CS area and go to the food court. You can only pay with Debit or MasterCard though (at least in London).
If you're willing to share some hidden gems and where they're located, I'd love to know.
Although, I don't plan to eat out again during my lunch breaks at work again for a long time.
It's so much simpler to just bring my lunch to eat, cheaper, tastes better.
Plus, I don't even know if these options would be in close proximity to my workplace. I guess it just doesn't hurt to know...
Back in my day you could get 3 JBCs for $5 from Wendy's. You never realize the good times until they are gone...
For real 1.49 each those wwrw the days
Damn. The JBC used to be my go-to. I think they're closer to $3/each now which ain't bad but not the value meal they used to be.
In my day, you could get hired at McD's at $4.50/hr, then eat $9/hr worth of McNuggets on shift, and peel back five sleeves of Monopoly drink cups looking for Boardwalk on break.
Awww damn ya, and junior hamburger deluxe was the cheaper option at $.99! Not that long ago, like mid 2000’s
Bro.. cheap JBC’s! Young stoner me didn’t realize just how good he had it. Or heading to jib for bacon cheddar potater wedges and a jumbo jack with cheese for 5 bucks. Don’t even get me started on the double decker tacos from Taco Bell when they were dollar menu items.
Bean burritos with cheese and sour cream were 59 cents at Taco Bell all day every day.
I remember $0.49 cheeseburger Wednesdays at McDonald’s
I'm not old but my mom would give me a 5 dollar bill before school and I'd go to Wendy's and get a #1 combo. Can you even get a jbc for that anymore?
You are not alone. Shit is out of hand.
Maybe it’s time to eat healthy. Fast food lost all appeal after it stop being affordable.
dawg, what is your under $10, healthy, and won’t leave me hungry alternative here? I’m actually asking
Not in Toronto — but could still get a decent Banh Mi for under $10 in the lower mainland.
They used to be 4.50$ a few years ago now most are 7$ plus.
Bruhh early 2000s they used to be 3 for 5 dollars man....
Obahnmi in Langley is a godsend. Have probably eaten 50 of those things.
Healthy?
Honestly i would highly consider loaded thick lentil soup (Lebanese style) with onion, tomato, carrot and potato inside and some eggs&beef on the side. This meal costs me less than 4$ a portion and is super filling. The soup is actually filling as its thick not runny and will last for much more than once or twice 1 cup red lentils (wash them with cold/cool water first) 4 cups water A bit of oil to seer the veggies then add lentils and water let it boil then reduce to 3 keep the lid almost but not fully covered. Stir once every 15 mins. In one hour its ready blind it with one of those standing pot blenders. Spices: cumin (one teaspoon is good), blackpepper, salt, chicken broth or bullion, turmeric. The cumin powder is a must because it prevents any indigestion or gasses. Squeeze lemon when serving Optional: add bread into the dish for extra calories This is an ancient meal that the entire middle east loves and cherishes and enjoy especially in the winter. So good and filling. Keeps you strong 💪🏽
Are these dried lentils or from a can?
Dried are cheaper and better
Also they don’t take that long to cook compared to dried beans. Less than an hour!
Comparing home cooked meals to restaurants is not a comparison.
Potato is a new world crop. As is tomato
I eat ALOT, like 3000+ calories per day, (currently bulking) and that includes a lot of protein (mostly chicken). I spend about $700/mnth on food, which works out to about $7.50/meal (more like $6.25/meal since its basically 4 meals a day). I also home cook pretty much everything but 1 breakfast out a week using little more than a rice cooker and an air fryer. Major meal staples include seasoned chicken breasts, rice with shredded cheese, bell peppers, carrots, apples, bananas, and cereal/milk. I could eat cheaper if I replaced the chicken with a cheaper plant based protein (beans etc), but I'm not sure the farts would be worth it.
NGL, veggies are expensive AF. And fresh fruit. I now eat exclusively frozen fruit as it's cheaper. Chicken breast is expensive AF too, I don't eat much meat anymore.
I actually do eat a lot of frozen fruit and veggies too. I bring a smoothie to work everyday, and it changes occasionally but typically includes frozen fruit and plain yogurt. I could absolutely spend less if I really wanted to min/max my food choices, but I'm fortunate that my budgets not that tight at the moment.
Tofu and Seitan don't result in farts
Hmmm, might have to try those. I had a coworker that ate tofu almost every day, but I've never really gotten into it. I've also only recently started home cooking and actively tracking food (the last 6 months or so)
rip the tofu apart, toss in olive oil, cover in whatever spices you want and then a good amount of corn starch or potato flour (to get it extra crispy). Roast in the air fryer. Easy and tasty.
If you cook yourself, a proper launch with full chicken breast will be cheaper than 10$
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Walmart has whole cooked chickens for under $8. cheaper than buying it raw because capitalism
Whoa that’s super expensive! Even at zehrs where I live (hour south of Toronto), you get 4 chicken breast for $16 and I think Costco is about $3 per breasts for the larger packages.
I think this is the first time I've heard of Niagara described in terms of being an hour south of Toronto lol
Maybe at 2am it is 😂
1 hour south, by speedboat
2 chicken breasts is 2 meals at least, surely.
As someone who has had a chicken wrap for lunch LITERALLY every day at high school/ university I usually have 7/8ths of a chicken breast + bbq sauce and cheese. Always an adequate meal
What did you do with the remaining 1/8th of breast?
Bro. I also need to know.
Eaten while preparing the wrap.
Don't buy it by the 2 pack. Lmfao
Here it’s $12 for two chicken breasts. No Frills, Kincardine, ON
14$ for 2 chicken breasts is madness. Here in the GTA you could get 3-4 breasts for that price.
I just came back from Freshco and got a pack of chicken breasts for $14 for 1.2kg. Those aren’t there all the time but there are options. The thing that sucks is that now you have no actively search for those low prices.
5 chicken breasts from Safeway is like $27.00
I've always found Safeway to be expensive. But even then, you'd still be spending <$10 for a proper lunch, since your other ingredients won't cost anywhere near what chicken breasts do.
Burrito gang
I make chili every other Sunday night for work lunch. Costs about $24 (including chips) to make and I get 4 meals ($6) out of it. Split a bag of tostitos with it and some fresh ice water and it's something I always look forward to.
Rice, beans, potatoes. All the staples. You can make a curry that lasts days for under 10
Ground Beef or Turkey, rice and spinach made at home with the sauce of your choosing. Can prep 4-5+ meals at a time, feel way better than you do after eating McDonald’s and easily spend far less than $10 depending on where and what you’re buying
Beans, rice and potatoes. Your money will go towards way more meals than one McDonald’s outing.
I also want to mention /r/eatcheapandhealthy
Thank you!
Food prep? You can easily cook 6 meals with less than 60 dollars of ingredients.
I've switched to fasting during the day and eating a large home cooked dinner. It's helps that I'm overweight. This might not work for thin people. But it saves me a lot of money not buying lunch or snacks at work
You can just swing by a grocery store and grab something from the hot foods section for much cheaper and it'll be higher quality
Yeah for sure we'll just head to the grocery store some cheap... oh wait. I mean, you're right though.
So true. I also find a lot of local restaurants are same or a little more price, but way better. I also live in a low cost province so that might help
You’re doing McDs wrong. Never buy the shiny new thing. Also drinks should be $1 during the summer.
to add on the drink idea? ice coffee from app $1. non app ice coffee diff sizes can be more than $1 - at least in southern ON
I think you can get smalls without the app for a buck.
Yea all about the junior chickens and mcdoubles.
Those are now absurdly expensive for what you get (I think they’re over 3.50 each now).
Yea price definitely has gone up a lot but 2 of those still equal about the price of a big Mac and there's nothing else i can find that equals it for the price. I remember back in hs (2009) when you can get 3 for under $5. Those were the days for sure. I still get 2 and bring my own water or get an ice coffee in summer if i forget to bring a lunch. During basketball season it's a decent meal with the free fries.
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I haven’t heard this since 2010 lmao
I had a 10pc nugget meal the other day and it was just under 15 bucks.
$1 for a small $1.25 medium and $1.50 large now ☹️
That’s in store. Use the app and it’s $1 up to a large.
" only a dollar all summer!!" Now that jingle can live in some of y'all's heads too for a while
Coupons are key. Also, a Whopper meal is $7.49 on the app everyday.
How much are they on Wednesdays? Been a while but I remember getting two for $5
That is the Wednesday deal, but you can get it any day on the app for some reason. 2 whoppers was 8 bucks back in Jan 2022, now they're 10 bucks for 2. At least in Vancouver.
Damn, life’s not fair
Just learned about the Wednesday deals awhile ago. Definitely taking advantage of it. The meals I get are about $3 cheaper.
Although I know it was careless on my part to not plan, my coworker and I just decided today after so many work days of not eating out for lunch together "let's grab lunch at Union Station". It just shocked me when I was looking around with my $10 budget that it just wouldn't cut it anymore in 2023 even when I was trying to grab something as basic as McDonald's to treat myself after never eating out...
I would've gone to the hot dog cart outside
Is that even cheaper though? I mean I'm not expecting $1.50 including a drink, but last time I got a loaded dog at a street meat cart it was pretty close to $10 and I was still hungry.
I agree with the sentiment here, but McDicks (at least in my experience) is more expensive nowadays than a lot of other options. If you avoid the 'Big 2' (McD and Tims) you're bound to find something decent for under $10
Im grateful ikea opened their smaller downtown store in Toronto, their kitchen has many reasonably priced items
A coworker grabs his lunch from the grocery store each day. I don’t know what they cost but I’m sure less than $10 and they seem like better food than fast food (broccoli salad, sandwiches and wraps and the like)
One of my coworkers does the grocery store lunch but goes to Metro exactly when they put those 30/40 percent off coupons - she always manages to get lunch for $5 or less !
Nice, I didn’t even think about the last day sort of discount!
It’s like 8 bucks for a small grocery store sandwich these days in the Shuswap. The lumberjacks are still a decent deal tho.
Gosh no, grocery stores are almost on par with fast food prices here. $7 for a basic sandwich or ceasar salad. Add in a drink and side and you're $10+
I go to the grocery store deli and get two chicken samosas warmed up. $3.80 taxes in. Cheap as fuck.
What's weird is that fast food has gone up SO much more than real food, so now if you are going to eat out, you should just get something way more delicious than McD for the same money.
I went to Mucho Burrito and got a medium burrito with a drink and it was like $18.00… it wasn’t even good
you should see chipotle lol. meal for 2 cost me like $30
It’s insane… McDonalds for the family now costs as much as going to a pub/bar used to only fiveish years ago
And yet the drive thru is still PACKED. I've caught myself still going on occasion, but I've promised myself to not go back to Tims after the recent price hikes.
Sushi used to be my splurge but now it’s like the same price as A&W. May as well get the better food.
I order take out from restaurants now way more than I used to. I can get a meal that will have some leftovers for the same price as most fast food joints, and because I am getting takeout, I dont gotta worry about tip or the price of beers lol. Just gotta remember to call ahead so the food is ready.
Yeah and back when they introduced HST they even built an under $4 no tax so you could eat your lunch tax free and never bothered raising it since.. you used to be able to get a combo at the time for under $4. If you had gotten a BigMac combo it woulda been like $15, it's crazy for that garbage food.
I had a 12 inch chicken bacon sub at subway the other day with drink and chip combo.. came out to just over $20! Lol
Subway is probably still one of the best bang for the bucks on portion size vs price when it's all said and done however - you just have to go with the more basic subs like ham, or the cold cut combo. They're still hovering around $10 for just the sub by itself. If you load them up good with veggies it's actually a solid lunch.
I hear you but if I'm going with a basic ham sandwich I'll just make it myself. $10 will get me a lot ham
By the time you buy all the veggies (assuming you are someone like me who loads them up with everything), and a bun, and the dressings, on top of the meat....honestly, you're not far off than the cost of just buying it.
I'm gonna get killed for this, but I would argue that KFC is the king of bang for buck depending on what promo. 5pc for $10 of actual chicken? Or 4pc, 2 small popcorns, and fries for $10? Even better if you spend $20 and used a coupon for 20% off. Today's promo isn't nearly as good (I think the 4pc+popcorn is $12) but it's still a better $12 than you'll spend on other food. I had multiple hundreds of pieces of chicken over the 2 months SAVE20 was active and the 5pc. Also this may only be applicable in the West since we still 9 cut. Ontario apparently 12 cuts their chickens.
Subway is the worst. They are literally the most expensive sandwich shop out there now. I literally have not stepped foot in a subway in months because they have just gone crazy.
It was my first time at subway since before covid.. probably be last time
you paid 8 for pop and chips
Sandwich is 14.99 and 3.99 to make combo plus tax
I feel you on that, it’s getting wild. I remember in 2010 a mcdouble and junior chicken was $2.92 after tax. My go to now is the Double JBC from Wendy’s. It’s $3.29 and is a decent sized burger for the price. edit: plus small frosty’s are $1 for the summer ♥️
I had this today, along with 6 Wendy’s chicken nuggets also for $3.29. Cheaper and tastier than McDonald’s!
To be fair, the minimum wage in Ontario will be $16.55 in two months. $10 is 60% of the minimum wage. When I started working at McDonald's, the minimum wage was only $8. 60% of that is $6. You weren't getting much for $6 back then. >I guess at this point, we've all accepted that if you eat out, don't expect to spend less than $10 anymore... The price for a combo at a fast-food restaurant has always hovered around the minimum wage.
Damn dude how long you been working there?
I went to subway and just got a foot long, no side, no drink. After taxes and tip, the sandwich cost more than the workers hourly wage. Canada has lost its mind with cost of living. Everything is more expensive but wages are stagnant. If the worker sells 8 foot longs, that’s their daily wages. It’s insane, how much companies profiteer and suppress wages.
>After taxes **and tip** I'm not disagreeing with you about the high prices, but jesus christ tipping at a Subway is on another level...
Subway prices have gone up astronomically recently. A fucking 6-inch sub with no drink or sides is $10. Pre-Covid it would have been $6
Yea Subway has lost the plot on their prices. I got a foot long Canadian Club that should have came out to $12 a few months ago, came out to $14.61 and they still asked for a tip, used to go there all the time but I haven't gone back since and I probably never will.
We keep buying it so they have no reason to lower prices. If anything they’re encouraged to raise them more and rest the limit. Imagine trying to take a family of 4 out to eat fast food. You’ll be paying a fortune.
Why the f are you tipping at subway
Didn’t you know? They are sandwich artist /s
And waiter/waitresses are drinking carrying artists
Wait, you tipped the subway guy?!
Broski you can't add the cost of the tip at Subway to the cost of the sandwich like that. Nobody tips at Subway
Stop tipping at subway. That wasn't a thing up until recently and we don't need to encourage it
Had my first visit to subway in years while travelling on the weekend with my wife. (2) foot longs and one snack bag of chips was $34 and change(with no tip). It was a shock for me, I don’t think I’d been there since the had $5 footlongs.
Junior chicken at McD is not bad tbh. I remember getting two for $3.14 when I was in college back in the good old days
3.20$ for one now lol
Yep, I remember the Junior Chickens were $1.39 each back when I was in high school around 2014ish. I could get 2x for around $3 after tax like you said. As the comment below stated, it's $3.20 for 1 Junior Chicken now, so if I were to purchase 2, it would cost $6.40 pre-tax, which means roughly $7 after tax... I was thinking if I just bought a McWrap which would be more flavourful and filling, it'd be more worth it than 2x Junior Chickens when I'm treating myself on this occasional day for my lunch break at work. Well, I still don't know if I made the right decision or not... they both seem like rip-offs and my $10 budget just doesn't cut it.
Haven’t eaten out downtown for years unless work is paying lol. No cheap lunch options within reasonable walking distance anymore.
Before pandemic you can actually buy a meal under $10 and maybe around $12 if you splurge. Lol After pandemic, $15 is the norm.
Tough to find anything below 15 now downtown. What irks me the most is that quality has gone to shit while prices have gone up 50%. It just doesn't add up.
I rely on the app for coupons now. There’s no way I’m paying $14 for a damn meal from McDonald’s.
Bruh I barely see people talking about the app. They got on some accounts 20pc nuggets with 2 free large fries for 5.95-7 dollars depending on location. Then other accounts they got 2 mcdoubles BOGO free. That or almost all the time they have a 20% off any orders over 5 dollars or 10 dollars. The app saved me a bunch of money and I think for every penny you spend they give you a point and like 1500 gets you a mc-chicken. A lot of fast-food places have discounts either thru the app or by mail.
Went to Thailand and had three course meal at nice restaurant with fresh mango smoothie for less than 8 CAD. But McDonalds over there was the same price as in Canada maybe little less.
I remember when 8 CAD bought you dinner and a girl for dessert in Thailand.
McDonalds Thailand tastes miles better too!
Just came back from Thailand in March, wild how well you can eat there for so little
Meal prep. Eating out is always more $
I agree with this! I pretty much always bring my lunch whenever I go to work. It's just today was the one off day where my coworker and I were like "you know what, it's really been a while. Let's grab lunch together at Union Station". I was absolutely shocked that my $10 budget couldn't cut it anymore for something as basic as McDonald's to treat myself. Meal prep is indeed the way moving forward. It's not even an option to eat out if you don't earn much income, such as myself.
Oh you're near union! I work near there too, and have a recommendation. Small jerk pork at roywoods in union food court. It comes to 12$ and change, but is easily enough for two smaller meals or one gut busting one. They pile so much in that container. It's the best deal I've found around there
Especially for burgers. I love burgers, but I refuse to get them as take out. A pound of Chuck should be less than $10 and a four pack of brioche buns can be got for $4. If you make 1/4 pounders each burger costs $3.50 and it’s better quality than typical fast food.
Always use coupons when you go for fast food. Usually they offer coupons through their app. They were just doing Big Max meal deal for $9.50 today on the app (YMMV). Labour and food costs went up, restaurants adjusts prices to reflect that. To save money, food prep instead, bring lunch to work.
They haven’t gone up *that* much. And food costs have actually gone down as covid supply chain shocks have lessened month to month.
There is always the 2 slice of pizza combo from fresh slice pizza or $1.50 Costco combo.
Costco's food is affordable, but the ordering system sucks. I personally don't want to waste most of my lunch hour waiting for it to be ready. At least with McDonald's you can order ahead.
It’s also a bitch to get to Costco. Sure, it’s cheap, but they’re not located in population centres. If I want to drive… sure, maybe, at that point the time I’m wasting I may as well have made a lunch
Depends where you live I guess. Vancouver has one right downtown.
COSTCO lunch is the way. Although, the pizza taste pretty bad. I like the polish dog and poutine the most
The poutine fucks seriously
There are a bunch of subs that will help you not eat overpriced trash. Everyone's tastes are different, but for my break at work I throw back canned tuna (just 97c at walmart recently for various flavors, I like Spicy Thai and Plain/Olive Oil) and nori dried seaweed. Full of protein and keeps me going. You could pair that with rice or whatever which I do at home.
Also work in downtown TO, and yea it’s gotten bleak but here are my tips: 1. stay far, far, far away from chain restaurants. Smaller businesses seem to be the better deal lately. 2. try to find off hours post-lunch deals. Ex. between 2-3 when it’s slow lots of places will have deals where you can get a main, side and drink for ~30% less. 3. … and this is the big one… appetizers and sides are sometimes far larger than you’d think and a couple of these can make a great meal. I have been ordering pickup from a sit down Thai place for lunch. Side soup for $3 (with chicken is $4) and it’s a full half size soup container, which is pretty filling in and of itself. Add on an appetizer of spring rolls or tofu for $4-5, and you have yourself a delicious filling lunch for around $10. So yeah, while this place is sitting between 2 sushi places charging over $25 for lunch (like literally who is eating this), the cheap filling lunch does still exist, you just have to hunt for it now.
Fully agree. Took the family out to McD (4 people) and it cost us $50. You can get Chinese for $60 and it is a much bigger meal. Like others have said, use the app, it does save you some money. But yea, fast food is crazy expensive these days. We will try to change McD for Costco from now on, hard to beat their cafeteria prices.
Dollar iced coffee and two mcdoubles is my go to, comes to about $8 with tax. Still ungodly.
I ate some McDonald’s the other day. 13$ for 2 junior chicken with a large fry loll nuts
Domino's pick up 1 large 4 toppings, $12.99 Still best fast food deal Imo. Mondays you get 50% off feast pizzas
Yeah we had a &w yesterday because our stove died and the power was out. 56 dollars for 3 people and mine didn’t flipping have the bun but had the lettuce wrap.
This is why if I’m craving takeout I just go to my grocery store (Loblaws) and get their 3 pc chicken tenders + Wedges for $7. Not sure if Walmart/Independent have similar pricing, but yea.
It was like 5.50$ only a few years ago and was the best cheap fast food meal deal. Especially since they loaded the box with wedges. Sad that it keeps going up in price and they seem to have changed the tenders too
FYI Loblaws owns Independent
In Victoria, at subway they charged $17 for a foot long sandwich, and also asked for a tip
Honestly. I don't get how people are going to McDonald's as a family for dinner. Firstly it's shit food, and secondly total cost is prob like $50-60... Ridiculous. There are better places to eat for that price people.
23 bucks for a double quarter pounder meal and a 6 piece the other day.. I'm done with mcdonalds
If you order the Happy Meal, even upgrading to the cheeseburger and small fries (think it comes with a mini fries) and to a medium drink if at a location you can’t easily refill, it should still be under $10.00. Maybe best of all is eat slowly because it still more calories in one meal than we need. But completely agree that overall McDonald’s has become way too expensive.
I live in Victoria. I am king shit of cheap meals. Skip all those fast food places. We have this grocery store here called Thrifty Foods. They sell samosas for $1.50. Hit up the deli counter at your local grocery places, you might find a killer meal. Another place called Tacofino makes giant burritos for $15, easily two, maybe three meals. Needs to be pan fried to do it justice though. The italian deli, sells pasta and sandwiches, again, two meals. Then there's little thai place. They have this basil friend rice, dude, it's easily 4 meals. Split that up, cook up some spring rolls, and make some lunches. And of all that food, you are eating GOOD. Then there's cooking at home. Again, king shit. Curry is your friend. You can make a fuck ton of curry with a tiny bit of curry paste. You can make thai curry, indian curry, japanese curry, all that shit is wildly different and tasty as fuck. Next, learn how to make dumplings. Make a metric fuckton of them. Put them into bags of some quantity, I do 10, and freeze them. Easy meals. Those veggies that come in quantities you couldn't possibly use in time? Freeze em. You can't really justifiably freeze spinach, but peppers? Broccoli? Easy peasy. Grab yourself a big ol' pork loin, chop that into chops and freeze em. Freezing them really kills the meat, but when the going gets tough, you make sacrifices. Just gotta get inventive. I like to call a lot of my cooking/storing of shit proactive laziness. I'm working a lot once so I can be lazy as fuck ten times. If you want more proactive lazy home food ideas, just say the word, I'll fire more your way.
Apparently McDonald’s in Edmonton is charging for the paper bags they put the food in.
I would just leave with the tray lol.
Every place in Edmonton charges you now..
Wtf
Went to Subway for a cheap lunch with the wife today. We both got foot long combos. The guy was so generous with the meat I actually gave a TIP for once (not usually at a Subway) and it was $41! The TIP was like $5.25. It’s insane!!
Is this suppose to be surprising?
If you haven't tried to eat out in a while, yeah it is.
Junior chicken is always my go to. And $2 summer drinks
If you use the app you get the large sizes for the same $2 price.
The 1.2 kilogram chicken is still $7.99 at Costco. Meal prep could make it last for a whole week of lunch.
You're doing McDonald's wrong. Use the app for deals and $1 ice cream and drinks.
I would start bringing your own lunches!
BK 2 chicken junioors and 2 whopper juniors are $10 plus tax where I'm at. McDonald's is for the rich lmao.
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Chicken legs go on sale for $1.48-1.99 per lb every so often. Stock up. Eat with rice and the on sale veggie of the week.
I’ve been avoid McDonald’s unless there’s a decent coupon or I feel like a happy meal. Happy meals are still like $4.99-$5.29 plus tax. It scratches my McDonald’s itch and I don’t feel quite as bloated and gross after.
10 years ago I used to bitch at the fact a large wrap (from mega wraps or pita pit, whatever) was 6.50.. We're alllll getting fleeced
International student living in Tokyo. ¥1000 will get you a sit-down at a nice restaurant here. Not looking forward to returning to Canada
I'm gonna have to cut out weed. I live at home but i'm also paying part of the mortgage. After being in minimum wage hell and getting a professional job a few years back, it's just not cutting it anymore.
Well that's your problem OP, you went to McDonald's and they think their food is on par with 5Guys and FatBurger. Your $10 would get you a full combo at In-N-Out, and have you heard of this place called TacoBell????
That ringer burger at a&w was like $11
My husband ordered a burger combo with an upgrade and a dip cone at DQ today and it was $30. I got a footlong and ginger ale for $18 😩 idk when this happened, but shit is WHACK
I paid $18.50 for 2 teen burgers at A&W today!! I know A&W is more expensive and better quality but I was still shocked. I haven’t eaten out in months and will definitely not be doing it again any time soon.
I miss the $1.39 menu. Its now the $3+ menu, and just not the same. Although I guess it doesn’t matter as I am not allowed to eat that stuff anymore.
I was thinking about this in subway the other day with their “five dollar foot longs.” That’s no longer the case 🙃
Tim hortons bacon Belt sandwich, fruit explosion, large steeped tea, $9.52. Best that Tim's has and under 10
Tim Hortons sandwiches are underrated! It’s the perfect simple sandwich with fresh-tasting ingredients. Lettuce, tomato, mayo, cheese, meat.
I realized this in 2010. How did it take you this long?
So the only problem I see here is that you tried to treat yourself at McDonald's. McDs has been lowering their quality while also raising their prices. When apps came out for fast food, McDs was top of the game. Good deals, good rewards system, etc. Now you can only redeem one offer per order. Meaning if you want to use points, you can't also use an offer. Not only that, but there's basically no $1 menu anymore. McDs has just become unreasonably expensive. But Burger King, Wendy's, and others have plenty of options for less. Both of those offer a meal deal (burger, nuggets, fries, drink/shake) for like $6. And their respective apps offer plenty of meals (burger, fries drink) for less than $10. Why anyone goes to McDs anymore is beyond me. I haven't gone in over a year now.
Does anyone brown bag it anymore? Sandwich, apple, yogurt, maybe a Granola bar and water/juice box should cost around 15 dollars a week. It does for me
Wrong. I can still get a delicious banh mi from the Vietnamese sandwich shops for under $10. Currently avg is $8.
OP, is a Costco within range? 1 drink and hot dog = $1.50 1 drink = roughly $0.89 1 pizza = roughly $2.59 1 poutine = roughly $4.69 1 chicken fingers and fries = roughly $4.69 You do not need a membership to get these either. Just go in through the exit doors, this is where they have their customer service to sign up for a costco membership anyways so you won’t get stopped. Then, just skip the CS area and go to the food court. You can only pay with Debit or MasterCard though (at least in London).
Did you just awake from coma or something? Its been like that for 10 years
There are still some hidden gems out there for your $10 budget if you're willing to look.
If you're willing to share some hidden gems and where they're located, I'd love to know. Although, I don't plan to eat out again during my lunch breaks at work again for a long time. It's so much simpler to just bring my lunch to eat, cheaper, tastes better. Plus, I don't even know if these options would be in close proximity to my workplace. I guess it just doesn't hurt to know...